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The purpose of the sermon today is not so much a lesson as it is a revelation of the person Jesus as His disciples and contemporaries knew Him.  I received an email forward the other day that made me think about what I know of Him and how that compares to how others think of Him.  The forward was a series of pictures drawn by an artist who calls himself ‘The Jesus Artist’. The pictures were beautiful, the artist discovered by some people attending a seminary in Florida. They were pencil drawings the size of a barn door and he drew them in half an hour depicting Jesus exactly as parents and children two thousand years ago would have known Him, laughing and smiling.  The person who initiated the email wrote: “Christ laughing. A concept I hadn’t seen before.”

Interesting. Most of us don’t stand still to wonder what He must have been like, but we love to read the stories about Him.  Of course He laughed.  He also played games with His siblings and friends and went to parties. He probably exchanged funny stories but everyone could count on the fact that they were clean and never aimed at tearing someone down or making fun of them. The Bible tells us He increased in favour with God and man.  People loved to be with Him for many reasons.

We see Jesus as the gospel writers wanted us to see Him. They chose the highlights of His ministry and reported on them. They chose the stories we need to hear but more and more people are wondering and writing about what He was like as a real person.

The part of His ministry I’m focusing on today is healing. We have many stories about that. But before we turn to the past, I want to take a look at the present, from a human perspective.

I began my research by Googling ‘healing evangelists’ and was indeed surprised by the number of names I found.  Interestingly enough, I couldn’t find testimonies from people who had been healed by these people.  I remember in the early seventies, when I was first teaching in my home County, a child in my class lost a sister to cancer. At that time there was a lady who was a healing evangelist by the name of Kathryn Kuhlmann whose ministry was in the US. Inspired by her radio and television ministry, the mother and her daughter boarded a bus, and full of hope and strong in her faith, this mother expected her daughter to be healed. It didn’t happen. Her daughter became sicker and within a year she died. She told me later that people travelling on the same bus on the return trip told her that her faith was not strong enough. She was shattered. The disappointment was a bitter blow.

This mother had researched the healer carefully and followed her on television and radio. It was in 1947 that Kathryn Kuhlmann, a woman dedicated to God preached her first series on the Holy Spirit. During the first meeting a woman was healed of a tumor while listening to Kuhlman preach. Later during the series a man was also healed. These events marked the beginning of her healing ministry.

There are many other names to be found under Google—healing evangelists whose ministry appeared on television and aired on the radio, ministers who were widely interviewed by well-known interviewers, ministers who wrote books telling of their experiences.  Naturally, a lot of controversy follows these healers. Another modern day healer is Benny Hinn, whose work is inspired by Kuhlmanbut his ministry is riddled with controversy. A number of years ago Fifth Estate conducted an investigation of him.  According to their report, many people who he claimed to have healed were either not sick with the illness he said they had, they were still sick, or they had died.

People today, more than they ever did in Jesus time, try to discredit faith healing. Of course.  It makes us uncomfortable because we don’t know where this power comes from, whether or not the person is as connected to God as they say they are. Religions leaders must study as much as is humanly possible. Critics do it because they want to make religion look bad.  Kuhlman was ignorant of medicine, yet people were healed.  And the ministries continue—people flock by the thousands to fill stadiums when Benny Hinn is in town, they pour to the front to be healed. Now these healings would be easier to document if the people who had been healed by any evangelist had written a book, or made a post on Facebook. But as I mentioned before there don’t seem to be many books with testimonials from people who were healed by faith healers. Perhaps they have—I just didn’t find any in the limited time I spent searching.

A person who claims to heal through the power of the Holy Spirit frightens people who don’t know the power of God. They also frighten those who do.  All too often we are disillusioned when we read of lavish mansions, cars, airplanes and lifestyle of the people who claim to be ‘soldiers of God.’

I suppose if Jesus was living today, He would be called a healing evangelist, He would have His own television show and radio show, probably even a talk show. He would appear on talk shows and national television interviews. Think of all the people He could reach, all the healing He could do.  And yet, even if that were so, His lifestyle would be humble.

But He isn’t here now, at least not in His physical form. He was here more than two thousand years ago and He was a healing evangelist.  He preached the message of repentance and promised that the Kingdom of Heaven was close at hand. His focus was on God. People liked what they heard.  He spoke with authority—never saying  “I think”, or” I read in a magazine somewhere…”  If He made a quotation, it came from scripture, words that His Father had inspired human writers to record.

The Bible tells us in the gospel of Matthew that Jesus went around Galilee teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of disease and sickness among the people. Matthew says that even in Syria people heard about him. Syria lies northeast of Galilee by many miles. He was known throughout the Decapolis, a region to the east—the area of His fame and the geographical territory He covered in His travels was a very large area. No radio. No television.

How blessed those people were—think of someone you know and love dearly with a debilitating physical or mental illness.  If it was possible for you to take their sickness upon yourself you would.  If there was an evangelist who promised healing, you would take him or her there, confident that there would be instant healing. So it was in Jesus time. They brought their sick to be healed and they themselves went to hear Him preach. Nowadays, Jesus would fill huge stadiums in the large cities. In those days, the huge crowds simply followed Him and He spoke to them wherever they gathered—no microphones, no computers, no big screens.  I have often wondered how the people at the back could hear Him—especially when I read the story about the feeding of the five thousand.  I’ve stood at the back of a group of fifty or so people, in a museum or at the zoo, trying to hear what the guide was saying, and not hearing a word. How could the people at the back of the crowd of five thousand men, plus the women and noisy children hear?  Don’t you think the Holy Spirit had something to do with the acoustics?

Today’s evangelists have sceptics and hecklers—people who try to turn the crowd away, who try to discredit what they are preaching or the healing they are doing. Times haven’t changed.  In Jesus’ time, they were there too. One day He was preaching in the temple and a man at the back of the synagogue started shouting, disrupting the message. Perhaps he was well-known to the worshippers, perhaps he was a stranger. Whoever he was, he was loud and he identified Jesus as the Holy one of God.

Now this man was not an ordinary man. He looked like an ordinary man, but he carried baggage—a demon to be exact. This man was possessed by a demon. You and I would probably not recognize someone who was possessed by a demon, and we may not know what to do with it if we did. But Jesus did.  He simply looked at the man and said sternly (Mark uses that word) Be quiet! Come out of him!  Just like that. Mark tells us the demon shook the man terribly and came out of him with a shriek. How frightening it must have been to witness that.

Picture the clusters of people in the fellowship hall after the service, all talking at once, some crying, some consoling, many frightened. Imagine the conversation:

“Wow! Did you see that? I had no idea he had a demon! It was awful the way he shook the poor man so violently—I thought his neck would break the way his head snapped back and forth……

Who is this teacher?  I’ve never heard anyone speak like Him.  He got rid of a demon! There’s no question He can’t answer.  He knows exactly where to look in the Scriptures for His responses……  I wonder if He would heal my friend.  I think he has a demon inside him.  He really scares us at times with the way he looks at us, and the evil things he does to us…… And what about our friend Isaac’s little boy—maybe it’s a demon that makes him have those terrible fits.  I wonder if He would heal him.”

And so the conversation would travel in circles and the people would start bringing their family and their friends to be healed. Jesus never turned anyone away—at least the Bible doesn’t tell us if He did.

Now this demon we just read about actually spoke, and called Jesus the Holy one of God. The demon did that, not the man he possessed. Jesus didn’t usually allow the evil spirits to speak.  You see, they all recognized Him—they all knew He was the Son of God. Jesus wanted to build His ministry by the words He spoke and the deeds He did first. He wanted people to recognize Him because of His simple truths and His power.  John the Baptist had already prepared the way. He didn’t want or need a sideshow of demon-possessed people shouting out that He was the Son of God.  Firstly, people wouldn’t believe them, and secondly, people would begin to associate Him with demon-possessed people and that would frighten them away.  They would use Him for healing,  but they might not listen to His words and take Him and the things He did for granted. People would be afraid.

We heard the story not so long ago, of the encounter Jesus had in the hills on the far side of the Sea of Galilee. There He encountered the man who was so possessed that people chained him outside the city. The chains didn’t hold him though. The poor man. The Bible tells us he purposely cut himself with the stones on the ground. Kids are doing that today—they cut themselves with sharp objects. Makes you think.  When Jesus inquired, the demons were proud to respond that there was a legion of them within this man. How he must have suffered. There were so many that they drove a whole herd of pigs over the cliff. Imagine his gratitude.

Do demons still possess people today? Indeed, they do. Fiction writers have a field day with them and it’s what they like. Have you read Harry Potter? It’s a fun fantasy series mostly.  Remember “He Who May Not Be Named” otherwise known as Voldemort? In one of the books, JK Rowling gives a detailed description of the demon possession and what it looked like. That’s frightening evil and it’s fiction. But they do exist, they do possess in reality only most of us don’t recognize them. We just feel their effects. They make people do terrible things, they force addictions, encourage satanic cultures, books and movies as well as evil practices. They thrive upon the violent movies and video games of today, probably at the root of their creation. They keep people awake with worry and fear, turning them inward, instead of outward to God and they must be exorcised in the name of Jesus.  No demon can stand under His name.

Speaking with authority and healing the sick and diseased set Jesus apart from any prophet who had ever come before Him and driving out demons elevated Him to a status that could not be ignored. He was the talk of thousands of people. No job was too small or too daunting. We read that on the same day that Jesus rebuked the first demon He went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew, probably for lunch.  Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a high fever and the family told Jesus about her as soon as he walked in the door. He healed her right away, and she jumped out of bed and waited on them.

We read in another place of a man named Jairus a wealthy and influential man. He came to Jesus, begging him to come to his home to lay his hands on his sick daughter, trusting that He could heal her. As usual, Jesus was in the midst of a crowd who kept talking to Him, asking Him questions and discussing some of the healing He had done.  He couldn’t just leave and hurry away. They thronged around Him but the gospels tell us that on that particular day as He walked and talked, He felt power leave His body, energy that had been directed to the healing of someone.

In the middle of the crowd Jesus asked a rather unusual question—‘who touched my clothes?’ He knew the healing power had left His body via his clothing. In a crowd of many people this could easily happen, and the disciples thought He was asking a foolish question.  They should have known by that time. When Jesus revealed that healing power had gone out from Him, the crowd must have stepped back and become silent, each one looking at the other. Finally a lady stepped forward, frightened out of her wits, embarrassed to be singled out, and confessed that she had touched the hem of his robe, believing that if she could do so she would be healed.  She went on to explain that she had had an issue of bleeding for twelve years and desperately wanted to get better. But she didn’t ask for healing—she took it in faith.

Jesus didn’t get angry.  He recognized a need and a teachable moment. He said to her, “Your faith has healed you.  Go in peace and be free from suffering.”

 In the meantime, the agitated father paced back and forth impatiently, fearful that they would be too late. Sure enough, the news came that his daughter had died. There was no further need for the Master. Did Jesus already know this would happen?

No job too small or insignificant, no job too difficult. Jesus didn’t turn to the man and pat him on the back. He didn’t offer empty excuses or condolences. Instead He reminded the father that he had come to Jesus in faith, and he needed to hold on to it, to believe. And when He came to Jairus’ house, he shooed away the people, telling them she wasn’t dead, she was asleep. How they must have laughed. He raised her to life. Imagine the shock.  Probably today that twelve-year-old would be interviewed ad nauseum on national television around the world, and book publishers would be vying for the rights to publish her story. The news rags would have a field day, tying in ancient prophecies and predictions as they wrote up an embellished version of the incident.

People quickly forget the sensational. Nothing we do today would have the same effect as Matthew, Mark and Luke did. They simply recorded it as it happened, and two thousand years later we’re still reading about the twelve year old daughter of Jairus.

Jesus made an impact upon the lives of the people living in His time. The words He spoke in the synagogues and wherever a crowd gathered were inhaled by a people hungry  to hear from God. The words He spoke were invigorating, His manner gave them confidence—He conducted Himself in a way befitting a religious leader.

Even though He’s not here today in physical form, He’s still making an impact. People are still hungry to hear His words, anxious to understand His teachings. His words are still full of confidence and truth. Jesus said one day that we who learn about Him and accept His teaching without having His physical body present are blessed. That’s us. And we have to share His words.  We have the evidence, the inspired speakers and teachers to guide us in His truth.  We have to lead others to it. Our belief is our blessing. All we have to do is reach out and take it and pass it on.  Amen

God will provide a lamb—so was the promise to Abraham as he walked with his son Isaac to make an offering to the Lord. ‘God will provide a lamb.’

The seven hundred years before Jesus birth was a turbulent time. Small wonder that people were ready to believe the Messiah had come when Jesus arrived on the scene. With the Babylonian captivity about 693 years earlier, Israel ceased to be a nation. The temple was ransacked and burned, and in addition to losing their city, the Ark of the Covenant and their homeland, the people were taken as captives into a land filled with idolatry.  The only ones remaining in the land of their forefathers were the weak and infirm, and the aged. God warned that this captivity would last 70 years. He did not leave them to fend for themselves. During this time He provided leaders and prophets to keep the spirits of the people up and to keep alive the desire to rebuild the homeland.

As a footnote, you may or may not remember, the ruins of the city of Babylon can be found in what is present day Iraq.  In fact these ruins, which cover approximately 2100 acres, lie only 53 miles south of present day Baghdad.  Check them out—the pictures are fascinating for you history buffs. From Iraq we move to Iran (Persia) to follow the strand in history.

After a period of time, the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians. The new king, Darius allowed the Jews to return and begin rebuilding the temple, but by this time, many of them were settled and content to live in Babylon and only a small number of people returned to begin the task of rebuilding. When the second wave of Israelites arrived, they set to work under Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Under his skilled leadership, this feat took only 52 days to complete. In this period also, Ezra and Nehemiah together canonized the books of the Old Testament, using them to teach the people and  encourage them to return to the Lord.

Next came the Greeks whose mandate it was to Hellenize their entire empire. Their plan was aimed at eradicating the Jewish religion. Antiochus prohibited central elements of Jewish practice, attempted to destroy all copies of the Torah and required offerings to the Greek god Zeus. His crowning outrage was erection of a statue of Zeus and the sacrificing of a pig in the Jerusalem temple itself.  As this empire faded, the Romans took command, taking Jerusalem after a three-month siege of the temple area, massacring priests in the performance of their duties and entering the Most Holy Place.

One of the Roman rulers, mentioned in the Bible was Herod.  The historian Josephus recorded that Jews suffered more during the reign of that man than during the entire period prior to him since the Babylonian exile, a period of almost 600 years. When he died land was divided and the area of Galilee was ruled by a man named Herod the Tetrarch.  We remember him as the one who illegally married his brother’s wife and for his imprisonment and execution of John the Baptist. But that’s another part of the story. A different ruler, Archelaus, in a different part of the holy land began his reign by slaughtering 3000 Jew during the Jewish Passover. ( you may remember that Joseph was warned by an angel not to return to their hometown because of the cruelty of this man and that’s why they went to Nazareth.) Archelaus was actually dethroned after ten years of rule because of his horrendous cruelty and  Judaea became a Roman province. Such was the political scene when Jesus appeared in it.

After His baptism, we turn to the book of Mark for a look at the events of Jesus’ life, the first chapter. John was living at this time in the desert, dressed in camel clothing and eating locusts and wild honey and preaching a baptism message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He no doubt recognized the signs of the political pressure his people were under. The people were so ready to hear from God’s word. They flocked to hear him because for centuries there had been no prophet. The gospel of Mark tells us that the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him, confessing their sins and being baptized by him, wondering, hoping that he was the Christ, the Messiah. The temple rulers did not like this preacher—they had not authorized him nor did they support him and no doubt they feared him, so they sent a delegation to ask him who he was. They wondered if he was Elijah or a prophet or the Christ.

John of course denied being any of those people, proclaiming that he was simply preparing the way, ‘a voice of one crying in the wilderness’. Oh, he knew the scriptures and he used them well. The day after the visit by this entourage, Jesus appeared on the scene. Would that have been coincidental? What do you think? When John saw Him he must have been so excited, knowing that he had been on the right track, stunned to think that this awesome man of God should appear here with him.  He shouted out: “Behold the Lamb of God!”

Now, that phrase is only used twice in the Bible, both times in the first chapter of the gospel of John. He’s the only one who used that expression, but he gave no explanation as to why he used it. At least the Gospel of St. John didn’t record an explanation. Perhaps he had been talking to the people about the need to repent, reminding them of the rule requiring them to offer the sacrifice of a pure firstling. Quite often this was a lamb. They didn’t just come to John the Baptist to be baptised, they came to hear him speak and teach the Word of God.  It would naturally follow in the conversation to use the expression and tie it in with the topic of repentance. It was a comparison the people could understand. Perhaps they had discussed how God had provided for Abraham when things seemed hopeless, hoping that somehow the Messiah He had promised would soon show up. We don’t know.

John the Baptist told the people that he did not know Jesus. They were cousins! How could he not know him? It is unclear why he said that—perhaps he meant that he really didn’t know him, or simply that he had not recognized before who Jesus really was or the role He was to play in the salvation of the human race. It was through the working of the Holy Spirit that he understood the nature of the man who had come to be baptized, the enormous task that He was to fulfil.

I can well imagine the conversation that followed his proclamation of the ‘Lamb of God’, and after the settling of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus. How excited the people must have been. Hope would have been spelled with capital letters. No doubt John and Jesus had a lot of questions fired at them and people wouldn’t want to go home.

The sequence of events is a bit difficult to follow. However, the Bible tells us that in the course of his ministry, John rebuked Herod, the frightening one, named Archelaus, because he had married his niece, who was his brother’s wife.  Marrying a brother’s wife, while the brother was still living was forbidden by Mosaic law. John judged this king according to the law he knew, laws given by God. Herod of course, didn’t like being told off and threw John in prison.

When Jesus heard that John was in prison, he returned to Galilee, perhaps to be near to give comfort and support to John. The Bible simply says that when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been thrown into prison, He returned to the region of Galilee, living in Capernaum which is close to the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. Even this location had been foretold, and Matthew once again made the connection to a prophecy found in Isaiah which talked about a people in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali  living in darkness and seeing a great light.  From this point onward Jesus began his ministry in earnest, continuing the theme of repentance started by John and elaborating upon it by telling the people that the kingdom of heaven was at hand.

Jesus knew His time on earth was limited and that He had a lot of teaching to do. He began to pick the men who would follow him.

Shortly after Jesus’ return to Capernaum, He was walking by the Sea of Galilee. He wasn’t alone.  A crowd of people followed Him and He was chatting with those nearest while others pushed to hear what He was saying.  It would have been so interesting to be there. The conversation was no doubt of a spiritual nature, but they may have had some laughs together too. Jesus wasn’t always serious but the conversation would always be redirected to what was nearest and dearest to His heart. It was before ten o’clock in the morning according to the Gospel of John. By this time the crowd had grown large enough that Jesus needed space to talk to everyone present. It probably happened like that a lot, but this particular day was to be a special one.

 There were a couple of boats pulled up on the shore and so Jesus stepped inside one and asked the owners to row Him out into the water a little way so that He could speak to the people without being crowded. Later that morning He suggested they row out to deep water and let down the nets for a catch. Of course He had a plan, and He wanted to hear their reaction. They didn’t fail Him.

“Master, we’ve been fishing all night, from all sides and we haven’t caught a thing,” they told Him. Then they hastened to add “But if You would like us to, we’ll do it.” They did and the rest of the story is, as they say, history. The net was so full they had to call other fishermen to help them bring it into shore. They recognized the miracle. He invited them right then to join Him and promised He would teach them to become ‘fishers of men.’ Have you ever wondered how long it took to convince the fishermen?  Would Jesus have simply said “Follow me” and that’s what they did? Somehow, I expect that the men would have recognized an amazing opportunity, but they did have homes and families and they would have to be clear as to what Jesus expected of them. They would need to be reassured that their families would not be neglected.

Andrew, one of the owners of the boat had been a disciple of John the Baptist. He had heard him call Jesus the Lamb of God. This piqued his interest. Curious, he had gone to hear Him preach, excited to hear another prophet preach the same message that John had preached and since John was in prison, he decided he wanted to hear more from this man. He had called his brother, Simon, to come and listen to Jesus preach His message of repentance, telling him they had found the Messiah.  As it turned out, instead of standing in the crowd and listening, it was their boat that He chose to step into to address the crowd.

Later that day Jesus met James, the son of Zebedee and his brother John and these men too, He invited to join Him to become His disciples. This was the same day that He called Andrew and Simon. And the Bible tells us they left their boats and nets and their father and went away with Jesus.

Was it coincidence that Jesus came upon these men or was it by God’s design? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but when God has a plan, nothing happens by accident. Jesus went out looking for those men. He already knew the role Peter would play in establishing the Christian church and so He told him, “You will be called Cephas” which means “Peter”, the Rock.

Have you ever wondered where Jesus lived? He didn’t spend his time camping outdoors with no roof over His head.  At the time He called the two brothers, He may have been boarding with someone in the village, or staying with a friend, but Peter invited Him to stay with his family and it was Peter’s home which became the centre of operations for Jesus work. When He was in Capernaum, He did stay there, and if people needed Jesus, they would contact Peter.  Whenever He travelled, He would not be short of invitations to stay overnight and His disciples as well. People would be thrilled to care for them, and awed when He accepted.

The next disciple to be hand chosen was Phillip. John is the one who tells us this story. You must understand.  These men weren’t all chosen at one time.  As he hand-picked his followers, Jesus travelled around the area, speaking and teaching and people flocked to hear Him speak.  Phillip had a friend, Nathaniel whom he tried to convince that the Messiah had come.  Nathaniel was pretty sceptical.  “Nazareth?” he asked.  “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  But Phillip convinced him to come and give it a try.

When Jesus saw the men approaching He praised Nathaniel for being a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false.  Stunned, Nathaniel asked how he could possibly know that.

Let’s just stop here for a minute.  Think of an evangelist—for the sake of one we can all relate to, let’s take Billy Graham for example.  He’s coming to town and you want to go to hear him speak.  You’ve recognized that he has something special and he’s the talk of all the radio and television talk shows.  In fact, you’ve heard him speak but you’re not sure his preaching comes from the heart.  You figure he’s got a good speech writer in the wings. But your friend convinces you to come along and once inside the auditorium, the great evangelist walks down the aisle immediately and welcomes you. He invites you then and there to join his ministry because you are a person of integrity.

Wouldn’t you think this man was being just a bit too smooth, that he was laying it on pretty thick? If he needed help, shouldn’t he just advertise?

Nathaniel was a sceptic. He couldn’t believe that the little village of Nazareth could possibly produce anyone famous? We can relate to that. Who’d ever heard of Stirling until Rob Ray and Matt Cooke? Who’d ever heard of Belleville until PK Subban hit the ice? It happens.

And just when Nathaniel was about to turn away, Jesus told him He’d seen him while he was still under the fig tree before his friend Phillip called him. That convinced him. But here’s the question.  Did Jesus see Nathaniel as He was walking by, and made a note to invite him? Did He make a mental reminder to inspire Phillip to bring Him along? Or did He see Nathaniel in His mind, as God sees?  And how would He know that Nathaniel was an upright man?  Divine intervention would be the answer in each case here.

Would you be convinced if Billy Graham explained that he’d seen you plowing in your field before your friend called you? Would you accept his word for it that he knew you were just the person he was looking for?  Probably. God would work in your heart in exactly the same way He worked in Nathaniel’s heart.  You would accept his explanation especially if he’d walked down the aisle to meet you specifically before the evenings’ event had even begun, he walked down to meet you because he wanted your skills. He knew when he first saw you.

So it was with Nathaniel.   Jesus was hand-picking a special group of men, each one chosen because God directed Him to do so.

It’s still that way, you know. The Bible tells us that God knew us before we were formed in the secret places. He knew us and He had a plan for us—He still has a plan for us. Is it by coincidence that we are where we are at this given moment?  Are we lucky?

I think not. Luck doesn’t fit into God’s plans.  Every sermon we hear and ponder, every devotion we read, the religious songs we sing or the books we read, every time we study and understand something new in the Bible, we come closer to understanding who we are in relation to who God wants us to be. Most of us probably won’t exclaim out loud that Jesus is the King of Kings, the son of God. Lots of us have difficulty talking about Him to others. But if He calls us to do so, He will empower us.

The people of Jesus time had a tangible human being, a person they could listen to and talk to.  We don’t. We’re not even sure if the healing that happens to someone we know, or the ‘lucky’ chance that happened to keep us safe in an extreme situation was just luck or a miracle. Do we recognize miracles? Do we let people know we recognize them?

Think about the time Jesus was at a friend’s wedding in Cana.  He had been teaching and preaching and had already chosen six men to be His close followers. Jesus’ mother had been invited and He and His disciples had been invited also. These feasts could go on for days, according to the wealth of the family. In this particular incident, Jesus’ mother came hurrying to Him and told Him the wine was gone, could He maybe do something. She had faith in her son and knew there was something He could do—she didn’t know what, but she knew He would help.

Jesus’ response was “Dear woman, why do you involve me?  My time has not come yet.” Was he exasperated with his mother when he addressed her as ‘dear woman’? Is He exasperated when we ask for things?

ou would accept his explanation exactly the same way He worked in Nathaniel’ nd His disciples as well. uld h a friend, but PeteMore likely he was speaking to her fondly. He knew that she knew there was nothing too difficult or too unimportant for Him to take care of.  And there isn’t.  We can ask for the tiniest thing.  Nothing is too difficult or beneath His dignity.

And so He simply set to work. He instructed the servants to fill all the stone water jars standing nearby. Each one of these jars was capable of holding twenty to thirty gallons. They must have wondered, but they did it—someone must have taken leadership because of the tone of authority in Jesus’ voice, the confidence of His manner.  And when they tested it, it was wine.

The people were ready, anxious to believe that this man, who spoke so eloquently and knowledgeably about God’s purpose and redemption, was the lamb that God had promised. They wanted to accept Him as the provision of God.

God still calls us. He has things for us to do and He’s waiting for us to show up, just like Nathaniel. There’s nothing He won’t do for us—nothing too difficult or too small. He will tend to all our needs—all of them. What He asks is that we bring them to Him in the first place and that we leave ourselves open to understanding where He wants us to go or how He wants us to deal with each situation in our lives and in our church. That’s what the calling of today looks like.

Amen